


lucky to be coming home again

by cupcakeb



Series: easier when life gets hard [2]
Category: Elite (TV)
Genre: Carla and Rebe bond over their stupid boyfriends some more, F/M, and potentially move in together, the fluffiest fluff I have ever written, this will rot your teeth if you don't floss after reading
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26683777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupcakeb/pseuds/cupcakeb
Summary: Carla still isn’t used to being friends with Rebeka sometimes. It’s funny to think about how they got off to such a rocky start. She barely noticed Rebe last year, too busy pursuing Samuel and then worrying about his disappearance to pay attention to her. Her life last year was a little too stressful to bother with making or keeping friends.She's glad she's around now though.
Relationships: Carla Rosón Caleruega/Samuel García Domínguez, Rebeca "Rebe" de Bormujo Ávalos & Carla Rosón Caleruega, Rebeca "Rebe" de Bormujo Ávalos/Valerio Montesinos Hendrich
Series: easier when life gets hard [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941667
Comments: 18
Kudos: 58





	lucky to be coming home again

**Author's Note:**

> several people asked for a Carla POV of my previous Carla&Rebe friendship one-shot [keep an eye on me tonight](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25957147) so this is that! more of a continuation, though.

“I need a lifeline.”  
  
Rebeka barely glances up from her history book. “Yes, you look hot, no Samu still doesn’t deserve you. That it?”  
  
Carla sighs and rolls her eyes. That’s exactly the level of support she expected from Rebeka.  
  
They’re at Samu and Val’s apartment, studying in the living room, and the boys are MIA. A few weeks ago that probably would’ve stopped them from hanging out here, but they’ve sort of settled into a comfortable level of domesticity. It helps that they’re actually friends now; that part still feels new and exciting — more new and exciting than her fairly new relationship, sometimes. 

She loves being with Samuel, but having friends again feels pretty great, too.  
  
“No,” she says, closing her own textbook with a thud to get Rebe to look at her. “Take me seriously or I won’t tell you.”  
  
She likes that she can be demanding with her now. Rebe laughs at her antics, but she also props her chin up on her hand and looks over at her, motioning for her to keep talking, which Carla appreciates.  
  
“You can’t laugh,” she warns and instantly regrets saying it when a grin makes its way onto Rebe’s lips. Way to fucking go, now she’s definitely gonna laugh. She’s successfully set herself up for teasing. Taking a deep breath, she tries hard to sound casual when she says, “Samuel told me he loves me last night.”  
  
She tries and fails to sound casual, she should say, because there’s nothing casual about any of this. It’s scary and exciting and daunting at once.  
  
To her credit, Rebeka looks like she at least attempts to not laugh in her face right away. She lasts about fifteen seconds and then she lets out a sputtering string of laughter. 

“Jesus, was he really awkward about it?”

She doesn’t feel the need to dignify that with a response; of course he was awkward about it, so she just gives Rebe a knowing look. The girl laughs again. 

Finally, she whistles and grins at Carla. “It’s been like, what, four months? Why the rush,” she asks, and that’s precisely why she brought this up in the first place. Rebe seems to realize it the second the question leaves her lips. “Oh no, _marquesita_. What did you say?”

She’s always hated that nickname, but Rebeka utters it in such an affectionate way that she doesn’t really mind. It’s still weird to her, how well the two of them get along. 

Anyway, back to the problem at hand. This is the part where she would like to jump in front of a train to save herself the cringe. “I told you, I need a lifeline, okay?”

“Do we need drinks for this part?” Rebeka leans back in her chair and regards her carefully. “I think we need drinks.” 

It’s a Wednesday afternoon and they have a history exam tomorrow, hence the studying, so they definitely do _not_ need drinks. Drinks are the last thing they need. But... she’s freaking out a little, so maybe a glass of the nice scotch she knows Valerio hides on the shelf Samu can’t reach in the kitchen would be okay. Rebe is probably tall enough to be able to get it down.

So she sighs and nods reluctantly. “One drink, maybe.”  
  
They settle in on the couch, all cuddled up together under a fluffy blanket as they sip their scotch, and Carla really wishes the occasion for all this wasn’t her making an absolute fool of herself in response to her boyfriend’s love confession. 

“Just tell me what you said already,” Rebe prompts, running her fingers through her hair. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

“Okay, in my defense, I was a little distracted,” she starts, and Rebe fake gasps. She loves when she gets all dramatic like this. 

“He told you he loves you while you were getting it on? Doesn’t he know that’s _never_ a good idea?” 

Yeah, well. 

“Exactly. I kind of ignored it, and then later that night we were about to sleep and he made it _worse,”_ she gestures with her glass and leans back to look up at Rebe behind her. “He went on this awkward, fumbling rant about how he didn’t mean to say it but he meant it and wanted me to know he did and... It was a lot.” 

Rebeka finishes her drink and sets the fancy glass tumbler (one of the first things Valerio bought for the apartment) down on the coffee table. 

“And you said...”

“I sort of just giggled and called him cute.”

She feels a tug at the back of her scalp; it takes her a moment to realize it’s Rebeka tugging on her hair hard enough to hurt. “Carla,” she scolds which is unnecessary, really. She knows she fucked up. “Why didn’t you just say it back?” 

Unfortunately her glass of scotch is now also fully empty. She’s tempted to go for a refill, just to get away from this conversation. 

Staring straight ahead as she leans her head against Rebe’s shoulder, she says, “Because it’s been four months! Why the rush?” 

She stands by that. There’s nothing worse than admitting to having feelings for someone before you’re sure you have them. It’s too risky, and Carla only takes calculated risks. This one feels a little too hard to gauge. 

“Look, I get it, but he’s probably freaking out right now.”

That’s probably true. Come to think of it, that might be why the boys had insisted on dropping them off here after school before taking off on what they called a ‘man date’ — dinner and a movie, if they were telling the truth. Maybe Samu is lamenting about this whole situation to Valerio at this very moment. 

She groans. “So you’re saying I have to talk to him.” 

“Yeah,” Rebe puts an arm around her chest and pulls her closer. “You kinda do.” 

She must drift off, because the next thing she knows, she wakes up to Rebeka spooning her on the couch and footsteps on the old creaky hardwood floors, then blinks her eyes open to find Samu and Valerio hovering over them. 

Samuel smiles at her, then whispers, “Do you wanna come to bed?” 

She can hear Rebeka snoring quietly behind her, and the couch is surprisingly comfortable, so she shakes her head softly and cuddles up closer to her friend under the blankets. 

The boys both laugh a little, and she thinks she hears Valerio joke about being cheated on as she dozes off again. 

**

Carla still isn’t used to being friends with Rebeka sometimes. It’s funny to think about now, how they got off to such a rocky start. She barely noticed Rebe last year, too busy pursuing Samuel and then worrying about his disappearance to pay attention to her. Her life last year was a little too stressful to bother with making or keeping friends.

Of course, Rebeka has told her what she used to think of her. She still isn’t sure whether ‘frighteningly frigid hot girl’ is a compliment, but Rebe had made it sound like one so she’ll treat it as such. It’s absolutely bizarre that they get along now. A big part of that is absolutely related to the convenient living situation their respective significant others have found themselves in. It’s really nice to have a fellow female voice on things around when Samu and Val fail to understand basic concepts such as healthy food intake or not always picking the first generic looking car chase movie on Netflix or deciding what pizza toppings to order. (The girls both like mushrooms on theirs, and the day she found out Rebe also thinks pineapple on pizza is occasionally an acceptable choice, she kind of decided for good that they were gonna be friends now. Pineapple pizza apologists are hard to come by.) 

Rebe is impulsive and blunt to a fault, but Carla’s pretty direct herself so they mash well. Sometimes they have so much fun together that it makes her feel a little nostalgic for what her friendship with Lu used to be, before it evolved into a toxic mess over the past year or two. Rebeka and Lu share a few core personality traits, but Carla likes how Rebe isn’t jaded, or covering up insecurities by acting like a total cunt all the time. She’s authentic and won’t take shit from anyone. Lu is more… calculating.  
  
That doesn’t mean she doesn’t miss being friends with Lu, too. 

It still kind of stings to realize she can’t just text Lu sometimes when she sees an oddly specific Instagram meme that reminds her of her or when she needs someone to tell her she’s being stupid. Lu gives the best pep talks. She knows when push comes to shove Lu would never turn her away, but they’ve barely spoken all year. It sucks. 

Right now she’s having lunch with Rebeka, Samu and Val, all of them eating one of the two dishes they know the school cafeteria tends to not fuck up. (Caesar salad or Fettuccine Alfredo.) 

“I had no idea Lu even liked New York,” Valerio says, mouth full of pasta. “Though she did use to be really into Gossip Girl, I guess.”

Yeah, Carla remembers. They used to joke about being Blair and Serena until that comparison started to hit a little too close to home what with Lu’s parents' divorce, and her not-so-secret eating disorder and the occasional angry late-night outburst about how Carla gets everything handed to her in life while Lu gets the short end of the stick. Oof. If they hadn’t made a habit of acting like these jaded caricatures of themselves around one another, they’d probably have an easier time making up now. 

“Good for her,” she tries and hopes she sounds genuine. It’s not like she isn’t happy for Lu — attending Columbia sounds like a great opportunity. 

Next to her, Rebeka snorts out a laugh. “Someone’s bitter.” 

That pisses her off a little. 

“Why would I be bitter?”

The people around her grow quiet, all suddenly hyper-focused on their food, and she rolls her eyes at no one in particular. These cowards won’t even come right out and say it. 

“I hope she’ll be happy there,” she says and she means it. 

Valerio regards her carefully as if he’s treading on delicate ground. He’s still impulsive to a fault so of course he can’t help but say, “I’m sure she misses you too.”  
  
He probably means well. 

It’s a little too sad for her to acknowledge so she makes an off-handed comment about only having to eat the disgusting food this school serves for six more weeks and hopes it’s convincing enough to distract everyone. 

Rebeka gives her this little knowing glance when the boys start in on an actual debate about the different ways the school lunch ladies tend to fuck up meals, then puts a hand on her thigh under the table. She smiles at her and covers it with her own. 

She likes these moments of silent support a lot. She has no idea what she’s done to deserve them. 

**

“You know you need to tell him eventually.” 

It wasn’t a conscious choice, keeping her university plans from Samu. She hasn’t even told him about the options she’s looking into. They’d been in the middle of exams when she finally got that coveted letter of acceptance bearing the famous blue and yellow UCLA insignia, and she’d been so stunned about having gotten off the waitlist, she didn’t really know what to tell him. 

She doesn’t even know if she’ll go. California seemed like a good idea when she felt depressed and like she had no one, but now that she’s got a boyfriend and at least two friends in this city, the prospect of leaving seems a lot more daunting than it did a few months back. 

Maybe she should just go to London. That’s a two-hour flight away — a totally manageable distance for a relationship to withstand. She’s already gotten into King’s thanks to a call her father made to his old friend on the admissions board, and it’s a reputable school in its own right. That wouldn’t be so bad. 

“I’m going to tell him,” she says, but the way she reaches for the bottle of wine on the nightstand and tops up her glass probably takes away from her credibility. “I’ll tell him once I figure out what I want to do.” 

Rebe shrugs off her cardigan and slips under the covers instead. Yes, they’re drinking wine in Carla’s bed in the middle of the day on a Saturday. It’s been a long week of exams — they deserve it. 

She knows Rebeka and Valerio both plan on staying in the city, and Samu is set on attending one of the public universities in Madrid because he stubbornly refuses to let her pay his tuition to a better school. 

“Look, don’t put your life on hold for a teenage relationship that might not even last, alright,” Rebe says, and if Carla wasn’t on the brink of an existential crisis, she might call her out on that. The girl is practically married to Valerio, even though neither of them has even admitted to having feelings for the other — she’s clearly planning her life around him. Hypocrite. 

Carla still jumps at the chance to change the subject. “How’s your little talking about feelings project coming along anyway?” 

That shuts her up, at least. Rebeka sets her glass of wine down on the nightstand dramatically, seemingly for the sole purpose of flopping over onto her stomach to bury her face against the mattress as she mimics screaming into the void. “He’s just too stubborn and impulsive,” she says. “I feel like there’s never a good time to bring it up, you know?”

“He obviously loves you, I have no idea why you’re even worried,” she tells her, and she means it. She’s known Valerio, at least peripherally, for the past six years of being friends with Lu, and he’s definitely never been this committed to anyone. “He’s basically given up drugs, you should take credit for that.” 

Rebe shrugs, then rolls onto her back and stares up at the ceiling. “Honestly,” she says after a while, turning onto her side to face Carla. “Maybe don’t go to California. Who’s gonna talk me out of jumping off city rooftops when you’re gone?” 

“There’s always FaceTime,” Carla jokes but she knows it wouldn’t be the same. 

The prospect of running away from it all doesn’t really sound all that appealing anymore now that there’s nothing to run from. 

**

In the end, they decide to kill two birds with one stone. Well, three.  
  
Exams are over, and so is school, more or less. Graduation is just two weeks away, so any classes they have between then and now are _basically_ optional. That’s why they’re all still up at midnight on a Tuesday. The boys are watching something or other on TV, and Rebe and Carla have been holed up in the kitchen with a bottle of wine, busy trying to come up with a game plan.  
  
This is probably the most dramatic way to solve all of this, but whatever. Theatrics are fun. 

“Alright, alright, gather round everyone,” Rebe says, motioning for the boys to get off the couch and sit down at the dining table. They’ve thought of everything, so there are snacks and four bottles of beer set out. “We’re calling a family meeting.” 

Samu looks apprehensive, while Valerio looks kind of delighted — probably because he’s never had much in the way of family so the concept of a family meeting isn’t littered with negative connotations for him yet. His boyish enthusiasm is kind of cute. 

Pausing behind her chair to lean down and kiss her hair, Samuel laughs. “What did I do?” 

She grins up at him and shakes her head, which is apparently reassuring enough for Samu to sit down next to her and open the bottle of beer in front of him. He still eyes her warily, and she feels a little nervous just thinking about the conversation they’re about to have. 

Valerio grins at everyone around the table, gesturing with his beer. “What is this?” 

Rebe gives him a look to shut him up, then takes a deep breath. “We have some shit to discuss, so let’s discuss.” 

“Uh-oh,” Samu says, and Carla kicks his shin under the table. Not funny. 

“Carla, do you wanna go first?” 

She doesn’t, but she probably should. Sighing, she turns to Samu. “I’ve decided to stay in Madrid for university,” she tells him, and he looks like he’s about to lecture her on not missing out on things just to stay near him. They’ve been having this conversation ever since she told him about London and California last week, so she shushes him when he goes to speak, scolds, “Respect my decision and do not bother asking if I’m sure. I am.” 

Rebe nods at her encouragingly from her spot across from her, so she probably pulled that off. She can tell Samu has a few follow-up questions, but those can probably wait. “Rebe?” 

At least the hard part — for her — of this is over now so she can focus on supporting her friend in her time of need. This whole thing was Rebeka’s idea, so she hopes it won’t backfire. God, she’s tipsy enough to find all of this mildly amusing. 

“Right so, uh, just to get this on the record,” she glances at Valerio, who looks about as joyful and puppy-esque as ever, unruly curls bopping around his head. “I love you, or whatever.” 

Next to her, Samu’s mouth falls open the way it usually does when a completely predictable plot twist in a movie happens. He looks so delighted and excited to watch this unfold, it’s kind of cute, so Carla reaches for his hand and grins at him. 

Instead of doing what a normal person might do — smile and say it back — Valerio grins at Rebeka, then grabs her arm and pulls her up so he can hug her. He’s whispering something, though Carla can’t quite make out the words, and then they’re sitting back down, both looking giddy and in love. Good for them. 

It takes her a minute to realize Rebe is staring at her, motioning for her to go ahead with the next thing on the agenda. 

“Since we’re all staying in the city, we wanted to talk about living arrangements,” she says. 

Rebeka nods. “Don’t get us wrong, we love this place, but we were thinking maybe we could find a slightly bigger apartment.” 

They basically already live here, considering how often they end up sleeping over, but the boys still look a little overwhelmed at the clear insinuation of them moving in. Maybe they’re forcing their hand a little — Val and Samu both tend to need a little gentle prodding in the right direction to come to obvious conclusions. 

It’s Carla’s turn to speak, so she says, “Yeah, we own a lot of clothes.” 

The boys seem to have thoughts on that, and a little bit of a debate breaks out. Samu has lived here his whole life and doesn’t want to leave his — his words, not hers — shitty neighborhood, Valerio is worried their elderly neighbor Ms. Suarez might starve if they no longer come around and do her food shopping for her. 

“Okay, let’s workshop that idea, I’ve got a great real estate agent on speed dial,” Carla says. “I’m sure Rebe and I can find a solution that everyone will be happy with, right?” 

Rebe nods and grins at her, and for some reason Carla finds herself smiling fondly at these three idiots sat around the table with her. This is gonna be fun.

“Family meeting adjourned,” Rebeka says, then drags Valerio off to his room, so Carla figures she’s probably allowed to do the same. It’s late anyway.

She’s naked and on top of Samu when he finally stills his hips and runs a hand over her cheek the way he always does right before he gets all sappy and sentimental. Maybe she knows him a little too well. 

“Please tell me you’re not staying in Madrid because of me,” he says, and she rolls her eyes a little. How very selfless of him to pretend he doesn’t want her to stay. He sounds so guilty and tortured, and it would be endearing if she wasn't so tired of rehashing this. They've been over this a thousand times; it's not _just_ because of him.

“California and London just seemed too... big,” she says, scrunching up her nose for good measure. “And I don’t know anyone there who can cook incredibly mediocre pasta for me.” 

“Okay, whoa, I draw the line at insulting my cooking,” he teases, so apparently they’ve moved on from the serious part of this conversation. “You really think I wanna live with someone who disrespects me like that?” 

“Samu,” she murmurs, leaning back down to kiss a line from his clavicle to his lips. “Shut up now.” 

**  
  
The first apartment the girls go to see is absolutely perfect. It’s got a little bit of a loft vibe, complete with a little adjoining stairwell leading to a private rooftop patio, and Carla instantly knows she wants to live here.  
  
It’s expensive, sure, but it’s not like they’re on a budget.  
  
The main living room area has these quaint exposed-beam ceilings, with an open-plan dining area leading to the kitchen, and it’s perfect in every way.  
  
“Damn,” Rebeka whistles. “This place is fucking nice.”  
  
The well-dressed real estate agent showing them around looks alarmed at her choice of words, and Carla chuckles. “So there are three bedrooms, right?”  
  
The agent nods, then shows them the rooms and it’s exactly what they were looking for — all three rooms are spacious and flooded with light and unfurnished so they can really make this place their own.  
  
“Perfect, we’ll just share the third bedroom,” Rebe says as they’re inspecting the built-in storage. “It’ll be our closet slash hiding spot when we’re so pissed at the boys, we can’t stand to share a bed with them.”  
  
She laughs even though that sounds exactly right. It’s the sort of space they’ve been missing at the current apartment.  
  
“Do you think we have to let the boys come check it out?” Carla asks, and Rebe shakes her head adamantly. Yeah, that’s probably fair — consulting them would only delay the inevitable.  
  
“Hey lady,” Rebe calls over to the agent who’s been keeping her distance to give them some time to, quote, _‘really explore the place’._ She’s still halfway across the room when Rebe yells. “We’ll take it. Throw in a jacuzzi on the roof and we’ve got ourselves a deal.”  
  
It’s an obvious joke, but the woman instantly starts talking about how that’s certainly something she can discuss with the landlord, that she’ll send over paperwork to make things official, and Carla stops listening and instead grins at Rebeka.  
  
She’s pretty sure they’re gonna like it here.  
  
**  
  
Graduation goes off without a hitch, which is to say they all graduate — even Valerio — and now get to reap the rewards. (That’s code for getting really, really drunk.)  
  
Their graduation party is being held at Barcelo, a club Carla has already decided she never wants to go to again now that she’s done with school, so this is their last hoorah here. She’s made too many dumb decisions to count in this place, and as they’re sitting in VIP gulping down champagne, she feels an uncomfortable sense of deja vu.  
  
“Aw, babe,” Rebe says, mockingly turning to Valerio next to her as she puts a hand on his chest. “Remember when you made out with me here the first day we met?”  
  
Valerio giggles, and Carla’s pretty sure he can't possibly remember anything that happened last year, largely thanks to his little cocaine habit. He still ruffles Rebe’s hair a little, then leans in to kiss her, and Carla feels awkward about how she can’t look away. They just look so happy together, and she’s feeling a little emotional today.  
  
Samu chuckles next to her, then leans in to whisper in her ear. “Remember how you intimidated me into fucking you in the bathroom stall right over there?”  
  
Well, when you put it like that… She can’t help it, she lets out a loud laugh and elbows him in the chest. “The best idea I ever had.”  
  
He pecks her cheek, which is oddly sweet considering the nature of the conversation they’re having, and she’s about to get up and ask him to dance when she notices someone standing next to them from the corner of her eye.  
  
Nadia awkwardly clears her throat, and Carla barely has time to let her eyes linger on the ugly neon green _thing_ the girl is wearing because she puts a hand on her shoulder and says, “Lu is fucked up in the bathroom,” so Carla instantly jumps up to follow her.  
  
“What the fuck happened?” She asks as Nadia leads her through the crowd, and the girl shakes her head like she has no clue. Thankfully Carla is good in a crisis, so she feels levelheaded as she contemplates the long list of possibilities — she has no idea what she’s about to walk in on, but she's dealt with Lu's antics for years. That has to count for something.   
  
“She got a little drunk,” Nadia says, shrugging. “And then she started asking for you.”  
  
At least Lu is still a drama queen at heart, it seems, because when they open the door to the bathroom, she’s sitting propped up against the wall, her pink graduation dress falling off her shoulder, strands of hair escaping her elaborate updo, her mascara smudged down her cheeks like she's been crying.  
  
Lu looks up and spots her, the expression on her face unreadable. She almost looks annoyed to see her.  
  
There’s probably no need for Nadia to be around for this next part, so she turns to her and smiles. “Hey, can you give us a minute?”  
  
Nadia nods, backs away, and Carla locks the door behind her before sitting down next to Lu.  
  
“Happy graduation,” she jokes, and Lu scoffs. “A little too much celebrating, huh?”  
  
This is the first conversation beyond sarcastic remarks and brief exchanges about homework she’s had with Lu in months, but it feels familiar enough for Carla to relax a little and put an arm around her. This she can handle.  
  
“I can’t believe she went and got you,” Lu mumbles, her speech slightly slurred. Carla has seen Lu drunk one too many times; she knows she’s more upset than intoxicated. “Just what I need.”  
  
She figures a joke might lighten the mood. “Can we cut to the part where you tell me what’s wrong so we can get off the disgusting bathroom floor and go back to having fun out there?”  
  
“Nothing’s wrong,” Lu says, indignant and defensive, and Carla rolls her eyes. Nothing is ever wrong, if you ask Lu — everything is always great and perfect and going right according to plan. “I’m just feeling a little… nostalgic.”  
  
Carla can tell that's a lie, even if she's also feeling a little nostalgic today. There has to be more to this, but she's not gonna get Lu to talk about anything while they're crouched on the dirty bathroom floor catching all kinds of diseases.   
  
“Wanna get out of here and reminisce at my place?” She probably owes Lu this much, right? There’s no bad blood between them, not really. “We just moved. I think you’ll like it.”  
  
Lu shakes her head adamantly. “I don’t want to ruin your night.”  
  
Oh, Lu. Always pretending to be considerate, when really she just hates relying on others. Carla knows exactly what to say to get her to agree. “You’re not ruining anything.”  
  
The brunette gives her a reluctant smile, then shrugs and says, “Fine,” somehow makes it sound like a burden, and Carla finds herself laughing at the whole situation. It’s amusing that she actually missed Lu’s ridiculous attitude towards… _everything_.  
  
She texts Samu, tells him she’s going back home with Lu in tow and doesn’t feel bad about it. He can definitely entertain himself for the night.  
  
They fall asleep in the spare bedroom after several hours of talking, and she wakes up to a mouthful of Lu’s hair in her face in the morning, which probably means they’re friends again.  
  
The five of them all have breakfast together, and Carla is relieved to see Lu seamlessly integrate with her newfound group of friends.  
  
“These pancakes aren’t bad,” Lu says, shrugging her shoulder, and Samu laughs next to her.  
  
“Finally someone around here appreciates my cooking,” he says, giving Carla a pointed look. “Can we keep her around?”  
  
“Yeah, that’s high praise coming from someone who can’t even toast a Pop-Tart,” Valerio grins, then flinches as someone — probably Lu — kicks him under the table.  
  
Lu groans. “It was one time!”  
  
“You almost burned down the kitchen,” Val tells her, and everyone breaks out into laughter. “One time is one too many.”  
  
Rebeka grins at her boyfriend. “You’re one to talk,” she tells him before addressing the rest of the group. “He burned rice the other week. That takes serious skill.”  
  
Lu and Rebeka strike up an actual conversation without any baiting, mean-spirited remarks, and Carla finds herself smiling down at her plate of food.  
  
Life after high school is pretty alright so far.  
  
**  
  
Lu moves her stuff into the spare bedroom two days after graduation. It just made sense to take her in for the summer. (Okay fine, it made sense and maybe Carla also feels a tad guilty about not finding out about Lu’s issues with her dad until now. So what? Her heart’s in the right place.)  
  
“I didn’t realize we were adopting a stray,” Val teases as he watches his sister pull a suitcase into the apartment, and Carla is about to step in and de-escalate things when Lu rolls her eyes and goes over to hug him. Weirdest sibling dynamic of all time — she still hasn’t figured how they’re both always so close to murdering each other and yet also… _so close_ … at the same time. Maybe it’s because she’s an only child.  
  
“Dad looked so excited to be rid of me,” Lu tells him, and Valerio pulls away from the hug to hold up his hand for a high five.  
  
“Welcome to the club.”  
  
From her spot on the couch, Rebeka chimes in, “Hey, is he interested in taking in someone else? I’d love to be rid of _Val_.”  
  
The two of them get into a little squabble, and Carla seizes the opportunity to help Lu unpack next door.  
  
“Are they always like that,” she asks, pointing towards the living room where Valerio and Rebeka are still engaged in a very loud, somewhat joking argument. Carla grins and shrugs, because yeah, this definitely isn’t out of the ordinary for them.  
  
“You’ll get used to it,” she tells Lu, who sighs dramatically as she grabs another pair of shoes from the bottom of her suitcase.  
  
Samu comes home from the gym to find all four of them huddled around the TV in the living room, three episodes into Love is Blind, takes one look at them and shakes his head laughing.  
  
“What are we watching and who needs a drink,” he asks, then comes back over balancing a tray of drinks and snacks a few minutes later.  
  
Carla moves over so there’s room for him, then instantly drapes an arm around his neck and smiles.  
  
She could get used to this. 

**Author's Note:**

> find me [on tumblr](http://cupcakeb.tumblr.com/)


End file.
